Mission Mission

Woohoo! Last year’s Rice Paper Scissors New Year’s Day Brunch was the best meal I had in all of 2012 — and I had a lot of great meals in 2012. So, look forward to this:

We’re popping up for our annual New Year’s Day Brunch at Whiz Burgers, the iconic burger joint on the corner of 18th and South Van Ness avenue.

On the menu: fried egg banh mi’s and pho and Vietnamese coffee and everything else to make life feel alright (and maybe even awesome.)

Excited to start the new year with y’all.

Valerie + Katie + Zoe

Plus, you’ve probably never eaten at Whiz Burgers. What a way to break your streak!

RSVP and invite your friends! See the full menu here.

[Photo by Telstar Logistics]

Here’s the deal:

Bike Basket Pies is coming out of “retirement” for one night!

This Sunday, December 30th, I (natalie of bbpies) will be selling pies at the Unresolved Love Life of Evelyn Lee from 9 pm to close. I’ll have 3 dozen miniature pies in 3 varieties:

-potato, leek, & cheddar
-shaker lemon
-pear ginger

Pies’ll be $4 a pop. This probably won’t happen again, so I hope so see you Sunday!

Evelyn Lee is at Mariposa & Potrero, and it’s a bar so this party is 21+.

Can’t wait! RSVP and invite your friends!

P.S. If you’ve still got some belated holiday shopping left to do, consider the Bike Basket Pies Booklet, available online or at a fine local bookstore near you.

P.P.S. I might just get there right at 9 and buy (and eat) ALL the pies. So you better be there on time — and be ready to rumble.

Sounds cool, thanks.

Brings tears to my eyes every time:

Rock Bar’s jukebox of course is famously curated by the crew at Aquarius Records, and they do a great job. A nice mix of old stuff and new stuff, most of which you don’t see on other jukeboxes. Sure, with those internet jukeboxes at other bars, you can play almost anything you want — but you can’t play this Oh Sees song:

Note that at Rock Bar (and on the CD and on Spotify) the song is called “Corrupted Coffin” because some track listings got mixed up.

They’ve also got Mikal Cronin and Ty Segall and Chelsea Wolfe and the Mallard and the Monks and Blasted Canyons and on and on and on.

Here’s basically what I found at the end of yesterday’s awesome rainbow:

So, watch out for falling gas stations I guess.

UPDATE: Mission Local says the collapse very well “could have caused an explosion.” So, watch out for exploding city blocks I guess.

UPDATE: Here’s a much cuter picture of the carnage.

[All photos by xtina]

Just now.

Stepped out from behind his podium to join his boy Brex on the solo during “I Believe in a Thing Called Love.” Dig that golden jumpsuit!

DJ Purple takes the stage again tonight at Singin’ & Pingin’ 2.

[Photo by Stella]

They’ll serve their last meal on New Year’s Eve. Mission Local reports:

The restaurant at 16th Street and South Van Ness Avenue serves Northeastern Italian and Central European food and wine has been highly rated since its opening in 2006. But Losa said the saturation of new restaurants on Valencia Street has impacted the foot traffic on 16th street and drawn customers away from Bar Bambino.

“Our location is being left out of this vortex of transformation on Valencia Street,” Losa said.

Yet, Losa has faith that 16th Street will see its own transformation in the future – even if it will be too late for Bar Bambino.

Sad beans! “Vortex of transformation!” Read on for more, including Christopher Losa’s letter to his employees.

Our pal TK of 40 Going on 28 had a great time:

[S]uddenly I was 17 again and seeing REM at the Mosque in Richmond Virginia and never had been in an unsuccessful first marriage and 9/11 had never happened and the only thing I had to worry about was how much Milwaukee’s Best cost and whether this girl I knew liked me.

[...]

You see, back in the 80′s, growing up far from any kind of “scene,” music seemed kind of stale and lifeless.  What you got on the radio was lots of classic rock (and country, I guess, if you wanted that). When we discovered REM, it seemed like a revelation – here was somethingdifferent, something interesting.  And it was like our secret!  We were in a special club.

Of course, REM, and what was then called “alternative music,” blew up after that.  REM went on to become huge and maybe The Most Important American Band of All Time (there can be a debate, but seriously? Who else?).  But you know what?  REM will always remind me of a certain time when I was growing up and figuring out how to be an adult and the world was full of promise and things didn’t seem as shitty all the time.

Read on for more on REM, and TK’s feelings.